Antitheft device



June 2, 1931. A

C. M. MORSSEN ANTITHEFT DEVICE Filed July 21. 1927 /Z INVENTOR (har/f5 /Y//a/:ie/Y a W m ZZ ATTORNEYS Patented June 2, 1931 CHARLES M. MORSSEN', OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA ANTITHF'FT DEVICE Application filed July 21,

My invention relates to anti-theft devices, and particularly devices adapted for use by travelers, bank messengers, factory paymasters, stock-brokers, or other persons who transfer or deal With negotiable securities,

bank-notes, bonds, and other papers of like valuable character.

It is the custom of banks, stock-brokers,

factory paymasters, and the like, to transfer bank-notes, securities and other valuable papers from place to place in valises, suitcases, brief-cases, handbags,`or similar receptacles. Despite all precautions taken in the transfer and handling of such valuables,

bandits have found it easy to Waylay bank messengers, payroll carriers and stock-brokers messengers and rob them of the receptacles and their valuable contents, such robberies being frequently accompanied by heavy lossA of life, particularly When rapid Hight the receptacle is attempted to be Ystolen or leaves the possession of the carrier.

When valuables are first placed in the bag or receptacle for transportation purposes, the device is loaded so that if at any time before reaching the destination the bag leaves the hand of the carrier, the device functions and the contents of the bag are so defaced, mutilated, marked and stained as to be absolutely valueless to anyY person other thanthe owners. Upon reaching the destination safely, the device is rendered inoperative and the valuables removed from the bag by the transferee or owner. Furthermore, the defacing and staining are done in such manner that the securities,'bank-notes, and the like, may be easily traced or identifled by their owners.

One feature of the device is the provision of means on the exterior of the bag whereby the operation of the device to deface the con- Serial No. 207,552u

tents of the bag cannot be hindered or interfered with by anyone from the outside of the bag While same is being transported, and the only Way to prevent the defacing of the contents of the bag is by same being turned over to the owner orl transferee thereof at the destination, untouched by anyone but the custodian or carrier of the bag.

Instead of maintaining the transfer of valuable papers in utmost secrecy and resorting in such transfer to the use of expensive armed guards, armored cars, and the like, it is an advantage of the present vinventionI that the transfer of valuables in bags equipped With a deviceof my invention can be made with the utmost publicity, and dispensing with the use of such armed guards, armored trucks, and the like. Furthermore, the outside of the bag of my invention may be painted in vivid` colors land conspicuously marked so as ,to give rnotice to the public in general and to bandits in particular that the bag contains valuable papersvaluable to theovvner only,'but valueless to all others once the bag leaves the hand ofthe carrier. The danger of robbery under those circumstances is minimized and practically obviated, because robbers Will not jeopardize their lives and risk imprisonment to steal a bag which, When they get it into their possession, contains valuables vvhich are vabsolutely Worthless to them and cannot be transferred, sold or put into circulation. My invention does not prevent the stealing'of the bag and its contents; it simply makes the contents of the bag absolutely Worthless and uselessvvhen stolen, to thev thief-or to anyone other than the owner thereof. l

My invention preferably comprises a bag, valise, or the like, having a fluid container of large capacity suspended therein. from the top.y The fluid container is preferably filled With chemicals, ink, dye, or other desirable fluid which Will readily deface or indelibly v mark the contents of the bag in such a manner as to be readily identified as stolen property. The fluid container has a hinged door on its bottom, Which,vvvhen opened, permits the-entire contents of the container to instantite taneously flood the bag and deluge the contents thereof. The opening of the container doorA is preferably controlled by a h-ook or other means located on the exterior of the bag near the handle thereof, which means is held in operative position by the carrier from the moment the valuables are placed inthe bag until the moment the valuables are removed from the bag by the proper transferee at the destination. In the event of a hold-up, the carrier of the handbag by simply handing the bag over to the thief or permitting it to leave his possession, causes the device to function in the following manner: The fluid container door swings open very rapidly and all the fluid in said container instantaneously floods the bag and vdefaces the contents thereof in a manner to make said contents unfit for saleor for further use until replaced by the owner. n

In order to insure the op-eration of the devicethe moment the carriers linger releases the hook, and in order to obviate the possibility of abandit grasping' the hand of the carrier to prevent the hook being released, I preferably mount a shield rigidly around the bag handle, into which the hand of the carrier is inserted in order to Y grasp the handle ofthe bag and keep a linger' on the hook of the device. So long as the carriers hand is within the shield grasping the bag handle and the device control means, no one can hinder or interfere with thefuctioning of the device, and the only one who can prevent the functioning of the device is the proper custodian or carrier of the bag. The

moment the carrier withdraws his hand from the shield, however, to hand the bag over to a robber, or the moment the carrier releases the hook or other control means within the shield, which may be done without the knowledge of the bandit, or the moment the bag in'anyl way leaves the possession of the carrier, the device functions to deface the contents of the bag. 7:

.In addition to installing the device of the present invention in receptacles for the transportation of valuables, the device may also be installed in other places where valuables are stored and kept, such, for example, as safes, strong-boxes, safe deposit vaults, paymaster trains, etc.

Instead of manually controlling the emptying of the uid container by means of a hook, other means of controlling the emptying of the fluid container may be restorted to.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, which is shown merely for the purpose of affording an understanding of the invention and not for imposing limitations thereon, it being understood that changes, and modications may be resorted to within the scope of my claims without departing from the spirit of my invention. In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a handbag with parts broken away t-o show an antitheft device of my invention mounted therein.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a handbag with an anti-theft device mounted therein, showing the fluid container in closed position in full lines and in open position in vdotted lines, and

is preferably suspended within the bag from the top framework 14. The container 12 is preferably filled with chemicals, ink, dye, or any suitable defacing, marking or destroying fluid 16, through filler Vopening 18, which is normally kept closed by a cap 20. The open bottom of th-e container is normally kept closed by a heavy doorr 22 hingedly connected at 24 to the side of the container. A gasket 26 of cork, soft sponge rubber or the like is preferably provided on the inner surface of the door 22 in order to insure an hermetically tight seal of the door 22 against the, bottom edges 28 of the container and to avoid leakage therefrom.

The door 22 is kept tightly sealed against the container bottom by means of the-.linger lengaging a hook 30 projecting 'through an aperture 32 provided in the top frame 14 between the two posts 34 of handle 36. The hook 8() is so positioned in order that it may be conveniently heldV by a finger while the hand of the carrier is grasping the handle 86. Said hoo-k L30 is pivotally connected 'to pivoted lever 38,0n the opposite end of which is a pivoted pendant member 40. The free end 40 of said member 40 is relatively tapered, and adapted to seat in a groove 42 provided in the longer arm .44al of the eccenT trically pivoted lever- 44. The shorter arm 44?) of said lever 44 is adapted, when the door 22 is in. closed position, to fit into a loop46 of bracket 48 carried by said door 22.V As shown in full lines in Fig. 1, when the door 22 is closed, both the eccentrically pivoted lever 44 and the lever 38 are in substantially horizontal position, and `the hook 30. is in elevated-position with respect to the top frame 14. The moment the hook 30 is released and permitted to drop, the lever 38 swings out of horizontal plane, pulling the pivoted member 40 out of its groove 42 and permitting the eccentrically pivoted lever i4 to also swing out of the horizontal plane, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, whereupon the container door 22, because of its own Weight and Weight of the liquid Within the container, swings open rapidly and instantaneously empties the fluid Within the container onto the contents of the bag.

A shield or guard is rigidly secured to the top frame 14, and comprises a neck portion 52 of Width sufficient to permit the insertion therethrough of the carriers hand, and a relatively Wider body portion 54 to enable the carriers lingers to pass around and grasp the handle 36. The shield 50 is of suf ficient height t0 cover the Wrist of the carrier, so that the grasping of the carriers hand above the shield, by a robber, cannot interfere With or hinder the carrier from causing the device to function. The shield is preferably made of tough sheet metal to resist deformation.

The interior of the bag may be Waterproofed or lined With suitable Waterproofing or non-corrosive material 56, so that the bag may be flooded repeatedly Without damaging it.

rlhe operation of the device is extremely simple, requires practically no attention, and there is nothing to get out of adjustment or to prevent the perfect functioning of the device at all times. Because of the large capacity of the fluid container and the manner in which it empties itself, the device functions With eXtreme rapidity and certainty, the fluid poured over the valuables reaches a rather high level in the bag and contacts with every part of said valuables, and the deluge of the iuid over said valuables is extremely effective in defacing and marking same regardless of hoW the valuables are arranged Within said bag.

I claim:

1. A device for defacing and marking stolen valuable papers and the like to render same unsalable and non-transferable, con prising a chamber for receiving said valuables, a fluid container suspended Within said chamber over said valuables, a closure at the lower side of said container adapted to open for emptying same, and means extending through the Wall of said chamber for controlling said closure and operable from Without said chamber for instantaneously discharging the contents of said fluid container upon the valuables Within said chamber.

2. A device for defacing and marking stolen valuable papers and the like to render same unsalable and non-transferable, comprising a chamber for receiving said valuables, an open-bottomed fluid container suspended Within said chamber over the valuables, a door hingedly connected to said container to close the bottom thereof, and means operable from Without said chamber for instantaneously emptying the contents of said fluid container upon the valuables Within said chamber. i

3. In a receptacle for storing and transporting valuable papers and the like, comprising a chamber for receiving said valuables, a top framework and a handle, an open-bottomed fluid container suspended Within said cham berrover the valuables, a door hingedly connected to said container for tightly closing the bottom thereof, a hook projecting upwardly through the top framework of said receptacle adjacent the handle thereof, and means controlled by said hook for releasing said container door to discharge the fluid over the valuables, thereby staining and rendering same unsalable and non-transferable.

il. A device of the character described comprising a receptacle, a container Within said receptacle for receiving a substance adapted to deface the contents of the receptacle, means associated directly with said container and normally biased by the action of a force to move in a direction to effect the release of said defacing substance, a detent adapted to hold said means from releasing said substance under the action of said force, and a member controlling said detent and projecting outside of the receptacle, said member being re tained by hand in position to hold said detent in locking position and being releasable to permit of the release of said defacing substance.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name hereto.

CHARLES M. MORSSEN. 

